Molecular Characterization of Nanoimmobilized Cellulase in Facilitating Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass

Biofuel production from biomass requires an effective bioprocessing of lignocellulosic biomass. It involves pretreatment of biomass, a synergistic action of cellulase to break the complex structure, and release fermentable sugars from hydrolyzed biomass. The yield of the sugar hydrolysate crucially depends on the efficiency of enzymatic hydrolysis. An inefficient pretreatment may cause low concentration of sugars, excessive addition of enzymes, and high production of inhibitors. These consequences and the high cost of the enzyme make the process expensive. An immobilization system allows the covalent attachment of enzymes on a magnetic or nonmagnetic support, which improves the biochemical properties of the respective enzyme. It makes the enzyme stable, reusable, and provides easier separation from the reaction mixture. The enzyme attains thermostability and storage stability properties.